Freak Show
by Mad As A Bloody Hatter
Summary: A trip to the carnival leads to Roderich meeting a boy in a caged who is labeled as "The Devil's Child." Who is this boy with the scarlet eyes? Pruaus Pre-slash. Human AU


Notes: I got the idea for this while watching the phantom of the opera but I tried not to make it too much like it. This is a human AU verse. Aelius is the human name I gave to Ancient Rome. Bella is Belgium and Lars is Netherlands.

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"Come on papa lets go over there!" A small voice yelled out as its owner pulled on the hand of his papa.

The large man chuckled as he allowed his youngest son to pull him along, "Alright, Alright Roderich." He smiled.

Aelius looked over to make sure his other children were following them and sure enough the young blond boy who was happily talking to his dark hair "brother" while holding onto the older man's youngest grandson Feliciano. He himself was holding onto his other grandson, Lovino, in one hand while Roderich pulled him with the other. His "daughter" Bella had a grip on his "son" Lars' hand as they walked next to him. They were all in the next town over from where they lived at a carnival that Aelius had saw a sign for one day when driving Roderich home from his piano practice. He thought it would be good to take his adopted children out for a day of fun.

"Papa look!" Roderich pointed at one of the brightly colored tents and began to drag his father over.

Soon they were on line but then Aelius felt someone pulling on his pants leg. He looked down to see Bella looking up at him, "Papa I have to peeeee!" She whined, hopping slightly in place.

"Oh! All right, come we'll go find a bathroom. Antonio hold Lovino for me please." He said, handing the baby to the Spaniard, "We'll be back soon. If not then just keep walking around, we'll find you and stay together." He shot a look at Francis and Lars knowing they would watch over their younger siblings.

Roderich pouted slightly for a moment as he watched his papa walk away to find a bathroom for their sister but quickly got over it. Shrugging he turned back to the line and waited.

Ten minutes later they were out of the fun house and looking for something else to do. As they were walking they heard someone yelling. Curious they followed the sound of the man's loud voice until they came to another tent. This one had large posters on it of weird looking people and a large sign exclaiming **FREAK SHOW.**

Francis frowned at the sign but Roderich, who didn't know what a freak show was, ran over to the man to listen to him.

"COME ONE AND ALL! COME AND SEE THE FREAK OF NATURE! THE CHILD WITH THE RED EYES! BUT A WORD OF CAUTION DON'T LOOK INTO HIS EYES OR HE'LL TAKE YOUR SOUL!" He moved his arms in large arcs as he drew a crowd toward him. With the last word he dragged out and looked right at Roderich, causing the young boy to hide behind Lars who glared at the carnie. The men flinched at the dark look but soon recovered, ushering people inside.

The floor inside the tent was dirt and covered in straw that broke under their footsteps. In the center stood a giant circular cage that took up most of the space, forcing the people to spread out around it, and in the corner was a small bundle of what looked like rags. Roderich and his siblings managed to worm their way between the people until they were at the front. The violet-eyed boy placed his hands on the bars as he leaned forward to get a better look.

The carnie began spewing more nonsense about a "devil child" as he opened the door to the cage and stepped in. Roderich watched with wide eyes as the large man unhooked a whip from his belt and unfurled it, snapping it against the ground and causing everyone to jump back. The small bundle in the corner shook as the man moved closer.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you, the devil child!" With that he pulled off the rags to show a young very pale boy whose head was covered by a bag that only had two holes it in for his eyes. The man cracked the whip again, trying to get the boy to move and when he didn't, the man turned the whip on him. The boy eyes snapped open as he lurched forward with a shout of pain, causing the people on the other side of the cage to step back in surprise of the blood red eyes staring at them, "Disfigured at birth, the boy is a freak of nature!" The man hollered, hitting the boy again and again until he moved from his spot.

Roderich watched in horror as the boy limped around the cage trying to move from under the range of the whip. He could hear the people around them, some of them laughing, but he paid them no mind, his focus solely on the boy. He distantly heard what sounded like a baby crying but again he was too entranced by the boy who had by then limped over to where Roderich was standing. The brunette stared at the boy behind the bars, scarlet looking into violet.

Francis, who had enough, told his brothers that he was going to wait outside and left with Lovino who had started crying because of the loud noise. Antonio soon followed as the twin in his arms started to cry as well. Roderich paid them no mind as he reached forward on his tippy toes, his fingers just brushing the cool metal of the cage. Through the cage came a dirty hand, the rough fingers closing around Roderich's hand and he smiled. He couldn't tell if the other boy was smiling but the eyes staring into his lit up. After what felt like hours, but was probably a few seconds, the boys were pulled apart. Roderich twisted in the hold the strange man had on his coat collar.

"Let me go!" He shouted, grabbing the attention of Lars who had been standing near the entrance waiting for Roderich so they could leave.

The other boy quickly made his way over to his brother, not caring who he pushed along the way, and grabbed the hand that held his six year old brother off the ground. He twisted until the man let go and grabbed Roderich by the hand himself, "come on." He said, pulling Roderich out.

The young boy looked over his shoulder at the boy in the cage. Though he knew that it wouldn't reach, Roderich stretched out his free hand toward the boy who was being held down by the carnie. The child groaned under the man's knee but made an attempt to reach the other. The man pulled his fist back and punched the child on the head hard enough to make him black out. The last thing he saw was the brunette reaching out for him.

Lars carried his brother; trying to keep a tight grip as the other kept moving trying to get out of his arms, "Calm down Roderich." He groaned as a little foot stuck him in the stomach.

They found the others standing a bit away from the tent and as the older boy explained to his brothers what happened inside the tent, Roderich glared at the floor. He didn't like the fact that they left the other child with the man. That was how their father found them. When asked what was wrong Roderich explained with child like innocence about the mean man who kept the boy in a cage but Aelius who worked in law enforcement and was instantly on alert. He asked his older children to explain because they would have the "freak show" in a different light then Roderich would have. After hearing about the carnie's treatment of the boy, Aelius was quick to pull out his phone and calling child services.

He crouched down so he was at eye level with Roderich and gave him a reassuring smile, "He's going to be okay. I called someone who is going to come and help him." With that said, he stood up and dusted his pants off, "Now lets go home okay?"

He herded his children away and it was at the gate when Roderich made a shocked noise. They all turned to find the young boy frantically checking the pockets of his blue coat, "The cross Nana gave me is missing!" He exclaimed, looking up at his father, "I think I dropped it."

Aelius sighed, his mother had given Roderich an iron cross the year she passed away and the boy was never without it, "Alright. Francis can you please go with him to find it?"

The blond nodded, handing Lovino back to Aelius before taking Roderich to go searching, "do you have any idea where you might have lost it?"

"I…I remember I had it before the show…."

Francis really didn't want to take his brother back to that tent but he knew how much the pendant meant to the other so he grabbed Roderich's hand and walked with him to the freak show tent.

Thankfully by the time they reached the tent it was empty, "Hurry go and look for it." Francis ordered the other as he stood near the entrance to look out for the carnie.

Roderich nodded and started looking around where he was standing earlier. He stopped when a dirty fist moved into his line of sight. Look up he saw the boy pressed against the bars, his arms in between one as he stretched out. He opened his fist and Roderich grinned when he saw his cross. He gently took it, looking it over; it was a bit dirty but fine, "Thank you." He said softly, looking up at the other.

The boy made a grunt under his bag and sat down in front of the bars so he could keep Roderich in his line of sight. Roderich looked down at the cross in his hand for a minute before holding it out to the boy, "You keep it." He said.

The boy, who had never received anything from anyone before, was shocked. He stared at the offering as if expecting the other to pull his hand back and say he was just kidding but Roderich did nothing of the sort. He held his hand out, urging the boy to take it. The bagged boy slowly stretched his hand out.

"Here take it, my Nana told me it would protect me so now it will protect you." With that he placed the iron cross in the other's hand and used his hand to curl the boy's fingers around it.

He smiled as he sat down on the ground so they were both at eye level, "My name is Roderich Edelstein. What is your name?" he asked.

He titled his head his head when the boy remained silent, "what's wrong? Can't you talk?" The boy nodded his head, "well don't you have a name?" he asked and this time the boy shook his head, "oh…. how about I give you a name?" he said and the boy perked up.

"Hmm…"Roderich looked at the other for a moment, "How about Gilbert? It's a nice name, don't you agree?"

The boy, now named Gilbert, seemed to be thinking about it for a moment before nodding as if deciding; yes Gilbert was a nice name. Roderich grinned, feeling very pleased with him, "Well nice to meet you Gilbert." He stretched his hand out to shake Gilbert's.

The newly named boy stared for the name for a moment before he placed his hand in Roderich's grasp. Roderich shook Gilbert's hand twice but did not let go. They stayed like that, hand in hand, just looking at each other until Francis called out that someone was coming.

"Come on Roderich we have to go!" he went over and grabbed Roderich by the arm.

Roderich whined but stood up, "Don't worry Gil, just hold onto the cross and you'll be okay. Someone is coming to help you! Just don't forget about me okay?" he called out, not letting the other out of his line of sight until the tent flap had closed behind him.

He allowed himself to be pulled toward the entrance and when asked if he found the cross he nodded. Together they left the carnival and got into the car to go home. Roderich stared out the window as they drove down the highway, his eyes focused on the scenery passing by them, all the time thinking about the boy left in the cage. At the light Roderich watched as a police car turned down the street they just came from. He turned his head and watched as the car drove in the direction of the field the carnival was set up. He smiled to himself as the light turned green. Gilbert was going to just fine.

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So what did you think? I had ideas for other one shots in this AU verse but I wasn't sure if I should continue. do you want more?


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